Today, the Mac App Store that Apple introduced exactly one year ago, celebrates its first birthday. Some have hated the Mac App Store for its slow loading times, some have come to embrace it for its simplicities. Whatever the case, the Mac App Store is here to stay and it's a dependent part of current Mac OS X operating systems such as Snow Leopard and Lion.

The Mac App Store is the way that Apple has planned to make buying software in stores obsolete. It's a way that we purchase and download applications right from our computer. It even auto-installs them immediately afterwards. I don't think installing software on a computer has ever been easier. While the App Store is nothing new; it has been around on smartphones for ages, and online media has always been available on systems like Steam, it did reshape the way that we think about it. Software is made differently now; made quickly and efficiently to do a certain task, instead of heavy software applications like Adobe's suites. Sure, there are some large application software programs in the Mac App Store, but the volume is limited. This helps make the download and install process quicker. It makes updating a breeze.

The Mac App Store has seen over 100 million individual application downloads since its release last year (these figures do not include Mac OS X Lion or applications update downloads as MacRumors reports).

We still have no word of Apple planning to release anything of this sort on Windows - it's probably a safe bet that it won't happen. The Mac App Store is exclusive to Macs the same way that the App Store is exclusive to iDevices. This isn't Apple being selfish - it's the way Google and Microsoft take care of their business too. So, happy birthday Mac App Store - and many more!

How will you celebrate the Mac App Store's birthday today? Will you be redeeming all of your Christmas gifted iTunes cards to buy some Mac software? Or will you take a search through the free applications section today? Share in the comments.

I've got an update for an app that I've never downloaded, that needs me to sign in and download with an account that I've never seen before. I have no idea how this has happened but my Mac App Store now has a constant 1 badge that won't go away. FML.

I've got an update for an app that I've never downloaded, that needs me to sign in and download with an account that I've never seen before. I have no idea how this has happened but my Mac App Store now has a constant 1 badge that won't go away. FML.